Our View: A respected civic leader is remembered; a Humvee falls from the sky

Friday

Oct 26, 2018 at 6:55 PM

MERIT: To the life of Ed Melvin, who died on Tuesday. Melvin was a businessman — he is the “Ed” of the well-known auto repair chain, Ed’s Tires — and served as a Cumberland County commissioner. He was a respected civic leader who served on numerous boards. His friends and colleagues remembered him as someone with a friendly personality and who was a hard-working, capable leader, a man always as good as his word. “Ed loved his family, our county and public service,” George Breece said. “We are all better off Ed came our way.” Melvin was 72.

MERIT: Representatives and consultants for Fayetteville’s Development Services Department and the Cool Spring Downtown District. They have been engaging stakeholders, including business owners and residents, on what direction the city wants to move downtown. Plans include a possible performing arts center. It is clear that Tony Chavonne, a former mayor who heads the Cool Spring district, and others in this process are keeping at the top of their minds another major stakeholder — Cumberland County, which intends to build an arts center, possibly downtown. Whether the city and county work out a deal on such a venture remains to be seen. County commissioners may decide some other part of the county is a better fit. But Chavonne’s remarks remind us it will be important that cooperation between city and county starts early and happens often. In the past those conversations sometimes began when it was already too late.

DEMERIT: To the soldier or soldiers who failed to properly secure a Humvee that fell off a plane on Wednesday and landed in trees in Harnett County. Fortunately, no one was injured and the vehicle’s three parachutes deployed, likely saving it from destruction or causing greater damage. But the dangerous accident could have been much worse. Since there were no injuries, we give half a merit back for giving us all a good chuckle in a pretty intense week for national news.

DEMERIT: To the person responsible for the attempted mail bombings of several prominent politicians and public figures, including former presidents Obama and Clinton. Federal officials rightly consider the actions domestic terrorism. On Friday, authorities arrested a Florida man in the case.

MERIT: To President Donald Trump for his strong statement on Wednesday condemning the mail bombs. “In these times, we have to unify,” he said. “We have to come together, and send one clear, strong unmistakable message that acts or threats of political violence of any kind have no place in the United States of America.”

DEMERIT: Also to Trump for the next day, blaming the news media for the current toxic political tone and taking none of the responsibility himself. On Friday morning he lamented over Twitter that all the "bomb stuff" was hurting the GOP in the midterm election races. But many believe Trump’s rhetoric, which includes his recent praise of a congressman who assaulted a reporter, plays a role in the current climate. The suspect arrested Friday in the bombing is a supporter of Trump who threatened Democrats over social media.

MERIT: To Michael Tucker, who was named Principal of the Year on Wednesday for Cumberland County Schools. The Stoney Point Elementary School principal has been with the system for 19 years, starting as a teacher at E.E. Smith High School. He served as assistant principal at Margaret Willis and T.C. Berrien elementary schools and as principal of Cliffdale Elementary School. “I am really at a loss for words,” Tucker said Wednesday. “I hope that I can work up to and live up to the previous principals of the year in Cumberland County.”

MERIT: To President Trump and Congress, which passed this week a major bill to fight the nation’s deadly opioid crisis. The sprawling bill seems to take the total approach to an epidemic that snatched away the lives of 48,000 people in 2017 alone. Among measures, it empowers the Postal Service with more tools to stop the international import of fentanyl, a synthetic drug so powerful the state of Nebraska used it as one of the drugs in its cocktail for executions. The bill also builds on the Obama-era approach of treating substance abuse instead of criminalizing same, and not just opioid abuse but all drugs. Included is authorization for drug courts that seek to get jailed individuals on the path to treatment, as well as a change that allows Medicaid reimbursement for residential treatment at facilities with 17 or more beds. Trump signed the bill on Wednesday, and it was a refreshing bipartisan accomplishment for Washington.

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